


Jenga

by canadiankazz



Category: Vampire: The Masquerade, Vampire: The Masquerade - L.A. By Night (Web Series)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Jenga, Killing nothing but time, might be shippy if you squint?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-06-23 21:55:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19710211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canadiankazz/pseuds/canadiankazz
Summary: Jasper and Annabelle kill time. Set sometime mid Season 2.





	Jenga

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is a gift for thattechguyelliot on tumblr for the LA by Night fan exchange that happened in July, 2019. It is very much inspired by all the Jenga and Jenga-type games they seem to play at Geek and Sundry.

The long nights of a Kindred’s life can, with time, fall into tedium. The older Kindred know this well. It’s one of the reasons why they play the long, political games that they do with each other. Sometimes, when violence happens around them, they welcome it for the break in the monotony. Younger Kindred, not so easily bored, often find other, less murderous ways to pass the time.

On this night, Jasper and Annabelle were cooped up together at Victor’s club. They were hiding away from the unwanted attentions of their various enemies on the streets of L.A. ranging from the paparazzi to the Ivory Tower.

Jasper fell into snooping, going through Victor’s things, his curiosity partly driven by his own boredom, and a little by his secret-questing beast. A red, rectangular box caught his attention and Jasper pulled it out. It was a Jenga game.

“Why does Victor have this?” Jasper wondered out loud.

Annabelle looked up from her phone. “Ooh, Jenga. I don’t know. Maybe… for when the guards are on break?”

Jasper shrugged. That seemed as likely an answer as any. “Want to play?”

Annabelle grinned and put her phone away. “Yes!”

Jasper walked back over to where she was sitting and pulled over a low table. He opened the box and poured out the blocks.

“I warn you, I am the Jenga master,” Annabelle said with a smirk.

Jasper paused in stacking the blocks into a tower and arched a disbelieving eyebrow at her. “Really?”

“Undisputed and undefeated,” Annabelle boasted smugly. “When I played against X while you were away, I won every time and when…” her tone faltered for a moment as sad memories crept in. “When I played with Mark and Elle… I won a lot then too.”

“Well… it’s been a while,” Jasper admitted, “but I used to be pretty good.” He squared off the tower, his long fingers pressing and correcting each block into place. “So… we shall see,” he smirked at Annabelle and she returned it. The sense of competition quelled down her sad memories.

Jasper gestured to her. “Ladies first.”

“Thank you.” Annabelle carefully poked the tower, testing a few blocks for looseness before wriggling the first one out and placing it on top.

Jasper followed up with his own block.

The first couple of blocks are always the easiest. The tower gradually developed a pinched middle, like an hourglass. It became much more difficult then, testing their skills of dexterity and patience. 

Annabelle watched Jasper’s hands as he eased a block out of the bottom half of the tower. He had painted his nails again sometime in the recent past, and the black paint contrasted hard against the white skin. She could also see, ever so faintly, the hints of black veins disappearing under his sleeves. He got the block he was working on loose and gently placed it on top. 

The tower wobbled. If either of them were breathing, they would have held their breath. 

The tower didn’t fall. 

They both sighed anyway. Human habits die hard. Jasper’s had a snarl in it.

Annabelle grinned and took her turn, carefully testing blocks in the upper half of the tower, trying not to make it sway too much. She settled on a middle block and was slowly starting to pull it out when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Jasper was cracking his knuckles. She could hear each one pop. He smirked at her again with a hint of fang.

“If you’re trying to distract me,” she said slowly, “It’s not going to work.”

“I’m not distracting you,” Jasper protested innocently. The trouble was, he was not good at seeming innocent. 

Annabelle shook her head as she pulled slowly on the Jenga block. “I am focused. I cannot be distracted. It’s why I’m so good at this…”

“Oh, yeah?” Jasper said, disbelieving.

“Yeah. Elle used to flash me during our games to distract me. Didn’t work. So…” Her block came free and she put it victoriously on top. “There is _nothing_ you can do to put me off.”

“‘What if _I_ flashed you?”

Annabelle erupted into shocked laughter and Jasper grinned. “Well... you could! I didn’t think we were playing _that_ kind of Jenga!”

Jasper shook his head, amused by her reaction. He licked his fangs. “We’re really _not_. You… you don’t want to see this.” He gestured to his torso. “But it _would_ distract you.”

Annabelle shrugged, giggling a little. “It’s your turn.”

Jasper took his turn. They played on in silence for another few minutes, the tension slowly rising as the tower became more and more unstable with each successful turn. The tower soon developed a dangerous lean and Jasper had to move to the floor, kneeling by the table, to get a good angle. Jasper growled as he tested the blocks. It was dangerous to remove any of them now.

Jasper made his selection. His fingers found a block he hoped was safe. Just as he started to pull though, the door burst open. Jasper flinched and the tower fell. Jasper’s hands flexed into claws of frustration and anger and Annabelle cheered. Their attention snapped to the door to see Victor Temple looking in on them with the awkward smile of a parent having caught the kids in the act of something.

“Hey, um… sorry!” Victor said.

“Thanks, Victor!” Annabelle crowed.

“I was just checking in because it got so quiet in here,” Victor chuckled.

“We were fine. Thanks,” Jasper said flatly. “You just made me lose though.” He picked up a fallen Jenga block from the floor and raised it threateningly, as if he was going to chuck it at Victor.

“Sorry,” Victor chuckled again. “I’ll leave you two be.”

He exited quickly, closing the door. Jasper threw the Jenga block anyway and it bounced off the wood near where Victor’s face had been.

“Want to go again?” Annabelle asked, still smiling.

Jasper sighed and retrieved the block he threw. “Well… considering you only won because of Victor… yes.”

Annabelle re-built the power with Jasper placing his last block on top. Annabelle let him go first this time, since she went first last time and won.

“We should get giant Jenga and play it with everyone,” Annabelle mused as they loosened and moved the first few simple blocks. “With the whole coterie, I mean. X and Eva too, and maybe Campbell.”

“Just have a big Jenga tournament?” Jasper said.

“Yeah! It would be fun.”

Jasper shrugged. “It would be something different, I’m sure. I can’t picture Nelli playing though.”

“I think she’d be good at it.”

“I’m sure she would be,” Jasper agreed, “but it’s not her game.”

“Mmm…” Annabelle placed a block on top and the tower wobbled again. She had gotten over-confident. “Woah... “

Two seconds of tension passed and the tower studied. Annabelle chuckled.

“Victor isn’t going to save you this time,” Jasper said with a faint snarl, carefully extracting a block.

“We shall see,” Annabelle muttered.

Jasper smiled without fangs as he put his block on top of the unsteady tower. For a brief second, Annabelle pictured him what he might have looked like doing this while human. She had Googled his name a long time ago and found an old photo from an online obituary. He used to have brown eyes and dark hair. He didn’t know that she knew what he used to look like. A little wave of sadness hit her.

Annabelle distracted herself by taking her turn. She removed a block, but just as she was about to place it on top, her phone buzzed. Annabelle plonked the block on top of the tower and looked at her phone. Distracted, she didn’t notice the tower leaning dangerously far to the right. Jasper did though, and he waited, grinning. By the time Annabelle noticed the tower was about to fall, it was too late. 

“No!” she wailed.

Jasper leaned back and held his hands up in defense, proof that he hadn’t touched the tower, as it tumbled across the table and floor.

“Damn it!” Annabelle cursed.

Jasper chuckled, happy to have won a game. “So much for your ‘undisputed and undefeated’ streak.”

Annabelle sighed, still holding her phone. “Argh, I was betrayed by technology! Oh well. Best two out of three?”

“No, thanks, I’m good,” Jasper said. 

Annabelle held out her hand to him. “Good game!”

Jasper hesitated a second, then shook her hand. Their grips were strong but friendly.

“Good game,” Jasper echoed.

He started to pick up the blocks, but instead of making a tower or putting them back into their box, he began to make a wall out of them on the low table. He stacked the blocks lengthwise like bricks. Eventually, a vague pyramid shape was revealed. Jasper was focused and content in his construction.

Annabelle smiled at him and returned her attention to her phone.


End file.
